Month: October 2014

Pursuant to the 2014 Farm Bill, the USDA is implementing a new program for farmers affected by severe weather, including drought. The Actual Production History (APH) Yield Exclusion, available in Spring 2015 for selected crops, allows eligible producers who have been hit with severe weather to receive a higher approved yield on their insurance policies through the federal crop insurance program.

The APH Yield Exclusion allows farmers to exclude yields in exceptionally bad years (such as a year in which a natural disaster or other extreme weather occurs) from their production history when calculating yields used to establish their crop insurance coverage. The level of insurance coverage available to a farmer is based on the farmer’s average recent yields. In the past, a year of particularly low yields that occurred due to severe weather beyond the farmer’s control would reduce the level of insurance coverage available to the farmer in future years. By excluding unusually bad years, farmers will not have to worry that a natural disaster will reduce their insurance coverage for years to come.

Under the program, yields can be excluded from farm actual production history when the county average yield for that crop year is at least 50 percent below the 10 previous consecutive crop years’ average yield.

The Nebraska Small Farm Workshop will be held this year on Saturday, November 8, 2014 in Nebraska City. Hosted by the University of Nebraska Extension, Nemaha County, the Workshop features three breakout sessions, as well as sessions on FSA programs for small and beginning farmers and a general session features Brad Kindler.

Also worth noting is that a Farm Beginnings class is tentatively being offered in Omaha if there is enough interest. The Farm Beginnings class will start in January. Feel free to contact us if you have an interest — we can point you in the right direction to sign up!

The grants are for farmers and ranchers to fund innovative ideas to advance sustainable agriculture. An individual farmer or rancher can receive up to $7,500, two farmers or ranchers working together can receive up to $15,000, and three or more farmers or ranchers can receive up to $22,500 in grant funding.

Courtesy of The Rural Blog, the following are videos and other information available for farmers, ranchers, and those interested in rural issues. If you have a small break during the harvest, check out of these videos!

Nebraska’s beginning farmers and ranchers have a tax program available to them, the Personal Property Tax Exemption. Applications are due by November 1, 2014 for the 2015 tax year. The Personal Property Tax Exemption is for beginning farmers, defined as those farming for ten years or less out of the past fifteen. What the tax exemption provides is:

A three year tax exemption on tangible personal property up to $100,000 per year; for

Tangible personal property is agricultural or horticultural machinery and equipment.

How do you apply? The application can be found at the Nebraska Department of Agriculture’s website. (Note the application is the same as the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit — just check the box for the personal property exemption in the upper-right hand corner.) You must apply by November 1 of the year preceding the year in which the exemption is to begin. This means for an exemption starting in 2014, you must apply by November 1, 2013.

Does this mean the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit and Personal Property Exemption must be applied for at the same time? No! Does it also mean you must be a beginning farmer throughout the three year exemption? No — you must only be a beginning farmer in the first year of the exemption. However, the exemption is a one-time only proposition — you cannot keep applying for it.

This means that you can plan ahead for the optional time to apply for the tax exemption. If your operation’s business plan is to purchase equipment in years five through seven (and you remain a beginning farmer at year five), you would want to apply for the tax exemption at that time, rather than applying for it immediately.

If you have any questions or require any assistance in applying for the personal property tax exemption, feel free to contact Legal Aid of Nebraska at 855-660-1391 or online here.

The USDA announced yesterday new and exciting changes (read: opportunities) for beginning farmers, effective November 7. Below are a quick list of the changes, which will be discussed in further depth in later blog posts:

The borrowing limit for microloans increases from $35,000 to $50,000;

Simplified procedures for lending;

Updating “farming experience” to include other experiences;

Expanding eligible business entities to reflect changes in how family farms and ranches or owned and operated.

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This website and blog is for educational and informational purposes only. Please contact legal counsel in your state (or contact us to determine if you qualify for Legal Aid of Nebraska's services) to discuss your specific questions.

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Legal Aid of Nebraska's Farm and Ranch Project is the oldest continuously operating farm legal services program in the United States. Due to a grant from the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, Legal Aid of Nebraska has the opportunity to further its range of services to Nebraska and South Dakota farmers and ranchers.